Internet delivers on a terminally ill girl's sweet request

The internet has made a terminally ill child’s wish come true.

Emma Mertens, a seven-year-old girl who has an inoperable brain tumour, is a massive lover of animals and has one simple wish – to receive letters and photographs from pet dogs.

Her family, who are based in Wisconsin, USA, sent out a plea to help make Emma’s dream a reality, and after going viral on Facebook, it’s resulted in tens of thousands of photos and letters being sent their way.

“We’re getting about about 2,800 emails each hour and mail by the truckload,” her father, Geoff Mertens, told Journal Sentinel.

The doting dad estimates Emma has now received over 50,000 photographs in the mail from all over the world, and their email inbox is constantly full up.

“I’ve stopped counting, but we were at 20 different countries at one point and every state,” he explained.

“We’ve gotten [pictures] from Australia, Venezuela, Japan, Italy, Russia — and actually a lot from Scotland and the Netherlands for some reason.”

Emma was diagnosed with a Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG) – a rare and inoperable form of tumour found at the base of the brain – earlier this year in January, and the Merten family immediately set up a GoFundMe page.

The little girl had just been playing with her siblings and brothers on the weekend, but on a Sunday she suddenly began having flu like symptoms and had a headache.

So far, Emma has had two surgeries and is preparing to undergo six weeks of radiation.

The family have currently reached $85,000 of their $100,000 goal, which is set to go towards Emma’s medical bills.

Visit their GoFundMe page here and follow more of her journey at Emma’s Fight.

Got a story tip? Send it to lifestyle.tips@verizonmedia.com

Want more lifestyle and celebrity news? Follow Yahoo Lifestyle on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Or sign up to our daily newsletter here.